However, people without a voice, without status or standing or access, were also a significant voting reason expressed by angry voters last fall.

And, of course, I continue to hear from people about how demoralizing or enraging or frustrating it is when institutions routinely ignore them – the original rationale for writing Matterness and have learned how to crystalize the idea better.

However, when I recently reread the opening chapter of the book, I realized that it was too complicated to convey what is, in essence, a very simple concept. So, I rewrote the opening chapter to more succinctly explain the concept. Here is the gist of the new chapter:

“Focusing on Matterness creates an organizational culture that embraces smart risks, engages in constructive conversations with people inside and outside, and considers time spent listening and learning to other people more important than time spent churning the wheels of transactions. Working this way creates a common purpose that trumps private interests and becomes the cornerstone for building strong, successful and sustainable organizations.”

Here is the revised opening chapter to download for free. The rest of the book, I think, provides a good and comprehensive explanation of why organizations struggle to treat people inside and outside well and what they can differently to unleash the latent social, intellectual and financial capital of people who want to help.

I’ve been so focused on the giving side of things lately that I haven’t spent as much time on the asking side. Nonprofits are hurting. Estimates are that giving was down 30% in October alone – I can’t imagine what November and December are going to look like. Stories like this one about Goodwill Industries are becoming typical; basically donations are down and demand for services are up.

However, ironically, maybe even paradoxically, the Chronicle reports that while gift buying is down people still intend to give to their favorite caues this holiday season.

So, what gives — or maybe, more accurately, who gives? I’m guessing (and really it’s just a guess) that people in their heart of hearst want to report that they will causes they feel passionately about, even when their wallots say they shouldn’t and when nonprofit spreadsheets say they aren’t. So, the real question isn’t whether donations are up or down, but how can we activate a lot of people who want to give to each donate a little this holiday season?

Part of what we have to overcome is the oversolicitation of donors who are turned of by being treated like ATM machines. Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy’s new report (this is only a summary, the full report is due out in early 2009) on why donors stop giving puts it more politely as, “no longer feeling connected to the organization.”

Connectedness trumps wizardy. This is always true but particularly relevant now when belts are being tightened. It is the only way to make donors big and small feel welcome, appreciated and needed. Katya Andreson reports on a presentation that the fundraising guress Kim Klein at Network for Good this week. Kim’s suggestions for raising money in tough economic times were:

1. Encourage your donors to give the gift of charity. It’s the holidays. People are buying gifts. Have them make that the gift of charity.

2. Call all your major donors. She says, “The tendency right now is to think, “Oh, these poor people. They lost so much money.” So you don’t call them. What you actually wind up saying to them, even though you don’t mean to, you wind up saying to them, “All we cared about was your money. Now that you don’t have so much money, I can’t be bothered to call you.” And that is really,

really, really not a message you want to give. You want to welcome them. You want to write to them and use a follow-up phone call to say something like, “We thank you for all you’ve done for us over the years. We are determined to hang in there and continue to do our work as best we can. We hope you will support us at whatever level feels acceptable to you.” Focus on the donor, not the donation!

3. Tell 70+ donors how to save on taxes! She says, “You can transfer up to $100,000 in any given year directly from their IRA to a charitable organization and they pay no income tax on that. Normally if you withdraw money from your IRA you pay a tax, whatever tax bracket you’re in that year. And of course if you donate it, you claim that tax donation. This is a very nice provision that allows you to avoid taxation and still claim the donation, so it’s kind of a double tax advantage.”

4. For smaller organizations especially, share a wish list! She says, “Tell people, this is the stuff we need. We need four ergonomic chairs. We need 10 printer toner cartridges. We need 75 reams of paper. We need new filing cabinets.” And you just kind of list all the stuff, everything in your budget.”

When I speak to groups this question inevitably comes up, “I don’t know what information to trust online.” Fair question. I also struggle with the opposite problem, there are so many information sources that I feel overwhelmed trying to read through them. Well, wait five minutes in the Connected Age and someone will have a new application to solve any problem. Welcome NewsTrust!

NewsTrust has taken the idea of social networks and applied it to journalism. In their words it is:

The free NewsTrust.net website features daily feeds of quality news and opinions, which are carefully rated by our members, using our unique review tools. We rate the news based on quality, not just popularity. NewsTrust reviewers evaluate each article against core journalistic principles such as fairness, evidence, sourcing and context.

NewsTrust presents news articles to their membership who review tools using criteria such as fairness, evidence, sourcing and context. Reviewing articles takes some time and consideration on the part of members – but thoughtfulness has never been time-free. NewsTrust is built upon two powerful characteristics of the web: the power of reputation systems (ratings systems that a large number of users or customers can help shape and increase their trust over time), and the power of social networks to help build and shape large communities over time.

The folks at NewsTrust did a lot of testing and research prior to their launch. The site is based on solid research that indicates that citizens who are not journalists can provide valuable feedback on the quality of news articles. According to its website, NewsTrust had initial seed funding from the Mitch Kapor Foundation, the Ayrshire Foundation and the Tides Foundation, as well as Craig Newmark (Craigslist), Doug Carlston (Public Radio International), Fabrice Florin and other private donors. It recently secured multi-year funding from the MacArthur Foundation for $450,000.

NewsTrust is one of the most exciting developments I’ve come across in a while – it really does have transformational possibilities.